Blister in the Sun
by glamorouspirate
Summary: Woohoo! School's out and the 09er crew find themselves at the deserted Kane holiday house by the lake, all primed for some good times. But with everyone coupling up, how will single Veronica deal? AU - Lilly's alive and kicking. Yeah, it's LoVe
1. Part 1

A/N - Set in either the summer before Veronica's junior year or the summer after - I haven't decided yet. AU, obviously because Lilly is still alive and kicking and it will be LoVe

Disclaimer: hahaha (hysterical laughter) I wish. Don't own. Never have, never will.

Listen to: Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes - the inspiration and title for this story. Don't own that either.

* * *

It was the hottest day in summer. It was typical that the hottest day in summer was the very same day that Lilly had planned for their summer trip of debauchery to begin, but Veronica wasn't complaining. She was just happy to spend a week or so without parents and with some of her closest friends.

Logan sighed deeply as he turned up the air-conditioning in his car up a notch. He gave a sideways glance at Veronica as he did this, making sure that he didn't keep his eyes off the road for so long that something happened, but making sure that she was somewhat comfortable in the heat.

Luckily, the Xterra had a fantastic air-conditioning unit, and Veronica looked quite content judging from the small smile ghosting her lips as she stared out of the passenger window. He couldn't read the expression in her eyes as large sunglasses covered them.

"So what did you do to swindle an invitation to Lilly's self proclaimed 'party-fest'?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Veronica asked, turning so that she was facing him. Logan repeated his question.

"Well for one; Lilly can't stand Meg," she began. Logan chuckled his obvious agreement. "And I have a sneaking suspicion that she just wanted my company…she can't stay in the bedroom with Luke the whole time, right?"

Logan was about to say something that proved otherwise, but Veronica beat him before he could say anything more, "don't answer that," she said quickly, just showing how well she knew him. Logan smirked to himself.

"So if I'm just a moderator of sorts, how did _you_ swindle an invite?" she asked.

"How can you have a party-fest without me, seriously? That kind of practice is impossible without my presence, Veronica," he joked. Veronica laughed.

"Wow. You really have been spending a lot of time with Dick lately."

"No but seriously, I just came so I could make Lilly _really _uncomfortable."

Veronica snorted, "Logan, I don't think _anyone_ makes Lilly uncomfortable. She made out with Weevil in front of her parents."

"The Weevil era. Can I just ask what she even saw in him?"

Veronica shrugged while fiddling with the radio channels; "Don't ask me questions about Lilly I don't even know the answer to. She likes rebellious guys who she knows will push her parent's buttons, if that makes sense. But can we not talk about Lilly though? I mean, when we get to Lake Portia all she'll want to talk about is herself, so I'd rather be fresh for her then," Veronica joked.

"Okay we won't talk about Lilly," Logan said. "And don't touch the car unless you want me to break those fingers."

Veronica made a show of extending and wiggling every finger on her left hand before she turned the volume up.

* * *

"It is _so_ hot out here. I swear all of my make-up is running because of the freaking humidity," Lilly began, hopping out of Luke's Range Rover and linking arms with her best friend, who had just gotten out of Logan's Xterra herself.

"Where're the kegs?" Luke asked loudly, while he was unpacking some of the luggage in the back.

"Oh I asked the Donut to pick them up since they're coming later. I thought it might have cooled down by then," Lilly replied.

"You know, that's actually quite a smart idea, Lil, which is really, really weird coming from you," Logan said as he walked in front of her on his way into the holiday home that they would all be staying in for the next week.

"Oh ha, ha Logan," Lilly replied dryly. Their relationship had been somewhat icy since their last breakup, when Logan first found out that Lilly was seeing Weevil; while they were still going out. Since "the Weevil era" as Logan liked to call it, Lilly had dated a string of 09ers, including Casey, Dick and currently Luke.

"Why is DK getting here later anyway? I thought his final exam was like, last week?" Logan said.

"It was. He said something about the Virgin Meg having a cheer meet or some shit," Lilly replied, rolling her eyes as she said it.

For some reason, Lilly really didn't like Meg very much. She had bequeathed the nickname "the Virgin Meg" when Duncan and her first started going out. Perhaps it was because Lilly missed hanging out with Veronica all the time like they did when she was going out with Duncan, or some other reason, but she definitely preferred it when Duncan was dating Veronica and not Meg.

"So who else is sharing with us?" Veronica asked Lilly.

"Well I invited Casey and Carrie because I'd thought that they would make a good couple, what do you think?" Lilly asked excitedly.

"You'll get in trouble one day with your impulsive matchmaking," Veronica joked.

"And I think the Donut invited Dick and Troy, who you _need _to finally meet Veronica. Not only is he funny and smart and good looking, but he is totally the type of guy who you'd go for. You're going to love him, I swear," Lilly gushed.

Veronica chuckled at her friend, "again with the matchmaking trouble you're going to get into."

"I don't care. You're hot property, Veronica Mars, and you haven't been with anyone since my idiot brother decided that he'd latch onto some other virgin," Lilly started, but Veronica shushed her friend, hoping that she'd turn the volume down a bit, "sorry…anyway, you _need_ to hookup Veronica; and if you don't by the time this vacation is over, I'm going to have to intervene. I mean, we're practically surrounded by hot guys. I'm sure you can find one that you like."

"Is everyone else staying at John's?" Veronica asked, changing the subject and motioning to one of the big houses on the other side of the lake, which belonged to their friend John Enbom.

"Caitlyn, Sean, Cole, Shelley, Madison, Kaz and a few others are over there," Lilly replied, ticking the names off of her fingers as she named them. "And I _know_ that there's this really hot college guy that holds parties in that house every night, so you have no excuse, Veronica."

Veronica blushed slightly, "I don't know," she admitted.

"Well let me assist you then," Lilly insisted, waggling her eyebrows at her best friend, which sent said best friend into a giggling fit.

* * *

It was tradition that on the first night of arriving at the lake that a celebratory party was held. Probably celebrating the end of the school year, or just the fact that they were finally on summer vacation, Veronica wasn't sure, but hours later, the party was just getting started as she walked down near the dock, where a bonfire was burning, keeping the rapidly cooling air warm.

Two boats were tied up on the Kane's dock, Veronica recognized one as John's but didn't recognize the other. She presumed that it belonged to one of the twenty-or-so random partygoers who had surrounded themselves within the pulsing music and around the fire.

"Hey!" A friendly voice came from beside Veronica and she turned around, a grin meeting her lips when she recognized Meg and gave her a hug.

"So how was the cheer thing?" Veronica asked conversationally.

"A cheer thing," Meg replied boredly, taking off her jacket.

"Veronica Mars get your cute and totally available ass over here and meet Troy," Lilly's voice came from Veronica's other side. When she registered that Veronica wasn't alone, her tone became less friendly as she greeted her friend's acquaintance. "Meg," she said stonily.

"Lilly, how are you? Great party," Meg commented.

"I pride myself on 'em," Lilly replied, "Now come on!" She tugged at Veronica, leading her away from Meg as Veronica shot Meg an apologetic look.

"Troy Vandegraff, meet Veronica Mars," Lilly said brightly as she released her friend.

Veronica looked up to see the boy. Lilly was right, he was kind of cute.

"Veronica Mars? The same Veronica Mars that Duncan and Lilly will not shut up about, no matter how much you tell them that, 'yes, I _know_ she's awesome.'" He joked.

"Wow. My reputation proceeds me," Veronica admitted.

"At least it's in a good way. You want a drink?" he asked, motioning towards the keg that sat a good meter away from where they were standing. Veronica looked around at Lilly for some kind of confirmation, only to find that her friend had abandoned her.

"Sure," she replied in answer to Troy's question. He smiled and a moment later, Veronica had a new drink in hand. "Thanks."

"You're more than welcome, my fair maiden," Troy joked, bowing overdramatically, which made Veronica laugh. "So is it me, or is Lilly trying to set us up?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, it's definitely not you, that's typical Lilly for ya," Veronica agreed. "She insisted that I meet you…she said, if I can remember her exact words… 'Funny, smart, good-looking and _totally_ my type.'"

"Lilly said that about me?" Troy asked incredulously. "That's weird because she's usually insulting me about one thing or another," he laughed and Veronica joined him, "no, but apparently you're 'smoking hot, eligible and totally _my_ type.' It's good to know that she was actually right about something for once," he said, causing Veronica to blush beet-red.

Troy and Veronica continued to converse and subtly flirt for another hour, until Caitlyn Ford interrupted them.

"Oh my god, Troy?" she squealed, throwing herself at him and holding on for a little longer than necessary. Veronica had seen this all before; she knew when a boy had or had had something going on with a girl, and there was definitely something more than friendship going on between Troy and Caitlyn.

"I think I see Meg, I'll see you guys later," Veronica said and Troy looked as if he was going to say something to object, but Caitlyn silenced him by asking him loudly where he had been hiding all night long.

Veronica shivered slightly as she walked away from the fire, wrapping her jacket over herself tighter, realizing that it really had gotten cooler outside. To be truthful, she was feeling slightly dizzy from some kind of smoke coming from Dick Casablancas' proximity and she decided to take a walk.

On return, Veronica realized that she was just in time for the other tradition of any 09er parties; it was time for one of the girls to be thrown into a body of water. It happened every time, a tradition that you could definitely bet on to occur. It was usually Madison Sinclair into the pool, or the ocean. The boys usually threw in the person they knew it would affect most. That's why Madison was an easy target; she usually complained about the dunking for at least another hour after it had happened.

Tonight though, it seemed like Lilly was the victim of choice. Veronica was surprised; the guys usually stayed away from Lilly because she was such a force to be reckoned with, and because it was usually her party. Yet, the proof of Dick, Kaz and a few other college guys who Veronica didn't recognize lifting a squealing Lilly onto the dock and into the icy water, completely contradicted the usual tradition.

Around her, the entire party whooped and clapped as a saturated Lilly walked out of the lake, her clothes and hair plastered to her body. The whooping only continued as the guys realized that Lilly was wearing a white t-shirt. Veronica laughed to herself. There really was no one like Lilly; who looked quite pleased with herself at the attention that she was getting while Luke frantically tried to tell onlookers that the show was over, trying to get them to leave and _not_ stare at his girlfriend.

"Lilly, put this on," Duncan said from the dock as he took his own jacket off and threw it at his sister while trying to avert his eyes embarrassedly.

"She always does seem to be the center of attention," Carrie Bishop commented as she sidled up next to Veronica, sipping her drink slowly.

"That's Lilly Kane for you," Veronica replied with a smile.

* * *

Later that night, when the bonfire had been extinguished, Enbom's boat was back on the other side of the lake, the sky was beginning to turn a shade lighter and the party was over; Veronica walked back to the room that she was sharing with Meg, only to be met with a surprise.

When Veronica opened the door, she was met with the sight of Duncan on top of Meg, making out and groping each other furiously.

"Oh my god," was Veronica's first reaction, as she stood frozen in the doorway.

"Veronica," Meg said quickly, pushing Duncan off of her and trying to cover herself with the comforter even the tiniest bit.

Veronica's hand flew to over her eyes, blocking out the sight, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea," she spluttered out, still shocked by what she had just walked in on.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Duncan and I are sharing a room. You're taking Duncan's spot in Logan's," Meg said, her face reddening with every word.

"Okay. I'll just…go then," Veronica said, walking out and closing the door behind her.

Veronica was tired. Although she wasn't sure about the sleeping arrangements and not at all happy with them, she wasn't in the mood to complain or set up camp on the couch; besides, if Duncan and Meg had decided that they were sharing, if she complained, she'd probably be stuck with Carrie as her roommate, and while she got along with Carrie just fine, she knew Logan much better and knew that he would be a lot more fun than being stuck with Carrie while she gossiped about every student at Neptune High.

As Veronica walked to the guest bedroom that Duncan and Logan were supposed to be sharing, she noticed that her stuff had been moved and was sitting just outside the door. She picked it up and opened the door as quietly as she could. When she was inside, she didn't realize that the door banged shut loudly behind her with the impact.

"Who's there?" Came Logan's sleepy, yet alert voice from the middle of the room. Veronica couldn't see a thing anyway because there was no light.

"It's just me," she assured him, dumping her things somewhere on the floor.

"Veronica?" he asked uncertainly.

"Who else would it be?"

"Someone hot coming to give me a little midnight delight," Logan replied. Veronica snorted at his answer.

"Maybe you should go back to sleep so you can keep dreaming," she said. Logan chuckled. "Do you mind if I turn on the light? I can't see a thing."

"Do I mind? Probably-" he started, but Veronica ignored him and turned on the light anyway, causing Logan to shield his eyes. "But by all means, go ahead," he said sarcastically.

As the light was cast around the room, Veronica saw that Logan was sleeping in the middle of a large king-sized bed; one of the only pieces of furniture that occupied the room.

"Were you and Duncan going to share a bed?" Veronica asked, a laugh threatening to spill out at the very thought.

"Have you seen the bed? It's fucking huge, Veronica," Logan slurred from under the comforter, a position he had obviously decided would shield him from the light a little better. "He'll be on his side and I'll stay on mine. Any cuddling will be all DK, not me. Wait – what do you mean _were?_" he asked, poking his head out from under the cover and exposing his tender eyes to the light.

"You'd better make sure you stay on your side, Echolls. Because there will be no cuddling," she sighed, "It looks like I'm your new roommate for the next week, seeing as I'm _pretty_ sure I walked in on Duncan and Meg getting friendly Adam and Eve style only fifteen minutes ago."

"Wow. Duncan and _Meg_?"

"Saw it with my very own eyes…and oh, how it burns. You have no idea how embarrassing it really was, Logan," Veronica said, causing Logan to chuckle a little.

"Seriously, move over. I'm really tired, and turning off the light now," Veronica said as she kicked off her shoes. Logan obliged by moving as close as possible to the edge of his side of the bed.

Veronica switched off the light and walked over to her side of the bed, keeping her hands in front of her body so that she wouldn't un-expectantly trip over anything. When she finally got into bed, Logan muttered a sleepy "goodnight" which she returned before falling into an immediate sleep.

* * *

It seemed that she had hardly been asleep for anytime at all when a loud bang woke Veronica and Logan up. Lilly Kane bounced into the room happily as she jumped onto the bed, lying close besides Veronica on the bed, while Logan tried to block her out, crawling under the covers and moving even closer to the edge of the bed in an attempt to get away from his ex.

"Oh my god, Veronica Mars. Guess what I just walked in on?" she asked excitedly.

"Two people _trying_ to get some sleep?" Veronica asked sarcastically and sleepily, the question eliciting an almost inaudible "damn straight" from a lump in the bed where Logan was last seen.

"Yeah that and…" Lilly said. When Veronica didn't answer, Lilly supplied, "Duncan and Meg sleeping rather cozily together. I think that Duncan may have finally grown some balls and done the deed."

"Sorry to disappoint you Lil, but we kind of already knew, so can you leave us alone now?" Logan asked, poking his head out from the blankets and looking about ready to throw something at her for waking him from his deep, drunken slumber.

"How do you know?" Lilly asked, surprised that someone had gotten the hot goss before herself.

"Miss Innocence herself walked in on DK and Meg getting 'friendly Adam and Eve style' as she put it so delicately," Logan supplied. Lilly looked immediately at Veronica.

"Really?" she asked.

Veronica groaned, "yes, really. And since when have I been 'Miss Innocence'?" she asked, poking Logan sharply in the side, which made him groan.

"Since…I dunno, sixth grade?" Lilly supplied.

"Seventh," Logan corrected, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed, finally deciding that his attempts at going back to sleep would be useless now that Lilly had decided that they should be awake. "Remember, she used to give Chinese Burns in sixth, and mean ones at that…definitely not innocent at all."

"I did not!" Veronica said, punching Logan in the arm. "And _if_ I ever did, undoubtedly you deserved it."

"Imagine my surprise when I go in to wake you up, and there is the Virgin Meg and the Donut getting all friendly under the covers. Of course Duncan was all 'get the hell out, Lilly,'" Lilly reenacted, changing the subject and getting a rewarding giggle from Veronica at her attempt of imitating her brother. "Bombshell number two comes when Duncan announces that his ex has taken residence with _my_ ex. Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?" Lilly asked pointing between Logan and Veronica.

Veronica immediately started shaking her head and was just opening her mouth to assure her friend, when Logan started talking, "I don't see how it's any of your business…and definitely something you, or anyone else should know about," he said, feigning serious-ness.

Lilly's eyebrow rose in interest, "really?" she asked excitedly.

"He's lying." Veronica immediately almost yelled in exasperation. "There's nothing going on."

Logan and Lilly both started to laugh at the embarrassment in their friend's face. Lilly started to get off of the bed, stepping over Veronica as she did so, "I know," she said. Slowly, and inconspicuously, she leaned further down and whispered into Veronica's ear, "but if there was, I'm glad it's with Logan."

She patted her best friend on the arm as she slinked past, leaving Veronica blushing slightly from embarrassment.

"Play nice you two," Lilly called from the doorway as she left the room.

"You know that she's going to try and set us up now, right?" Logan asked, turning around to face Veronica, who herself threw the comforter away and got up out of bed.

"It's Lilly, she tries to set _everyone_ up," Veronica countered, walking into the adjoining bathroom.

* * *

A/N Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, and seeing as I have got a large portion of this story already written, I can guarantee that the more reviews will equal the quicker update! I'm always up for hearing _your_ ideas on what you think will happen, or what you'd like to see, or what you liked/disliked. I just like reviews. lol. Cheers again for reading it means a lot :D  
x

* * *


	2. Part 2

When Veronica made her way downstairs to the kitchen area, she was surprised to find that almost everybody was awake and eating breakfast. Casey was preparing bacon and eggs, and Veronica gave him an appreciative pat on the back, already feeling the scent of the food easing her hangover.

"You're a god, Casey," she joked, as she grabbed the plate that he had just dished up for her.

"That's what we like to hear! I always knew you were a morning person, Mars," he replied with a smile.

As Veronica took a seat at the table, she could tell that Duncan was avoiding looking at her, or anyone who had walked in on him and Meg, but particularly her. Meg, however, was sending an apologetic look at Veronica; embarrassment was still apparent on her face shown by the slight pink in her cheeks.

When Dick entered the room and everyone around them launched into several different arguments, all concerning Dick's state of drunkenness last night and its consequences, Meg took the seat next to Veronica.

"I just wanted to apologize for last night, Veronica. I'm so, so, so, so, so, so-" Meg began, but Veronica cut her off.

"Don't apologize," she said with a laugh, "If I were you, I wouldn't be sorry, I'd be damn embarrassed."

"Oh but I am," Meg said quietly. Veronica patted her friend on the back for comfort. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we've all done embarrassing things…"

"Ha! Yeah, everyone but you," Meg countered. "I should have told you myself that Duncan and I were sharing a room, instead of just kicking you out on your ass. It was a really uncool thing to do. I mean, you might have had a real problem with sharing with Logan, and I didn't even consider you. I'm a bad friend."

"No, you're not," Veronica said. "Don't worry about it, Meg."

"Are you sure? I feel really bad about the whole thing."

"Don't," Veronica said, standing up. "Now I'm going to get some more of Casey's instant hangover cure. And we'll just forget that the whole thing ever happened, right?"

Meg heaved a sigh of relief, "oh please."

Veronica laughed, "I somehow doubt that Lilly will forget as easily as me though."

"I'm not surprised. She doesn't like me very much, does she?" Meg asked timidly.

"…What? That's not true…Lilly likes you," Veronica said unconvincingly.

"You're a terrible liar, Veronica," Logan said, as he walked past and heard the passing conversation. Meg frowned at Veronica, who wrinkled her nose at Logan.

"I disagree. I'm a fantastic liar, but some people can just read me a little better than others," Veronica argued, which earned a chuckle from Logan.

* * *

As much as Veronica tried to deny it as much as she could, seeing Duncan and Meg together all the time bothered her somewhat. It's not as if she said anything to anyone; certainly not Lilly, as even a small comment would surely trigger Lilly off on a Meg bitch-a-thon.

And it wasn't even the fact that Duncan and Meg were together; she had gotten over that a long time ago. It was the fact that sometimes, if she was willing to admit it, she was a little lonely, and seeing as most, if not all of her friends were or had been in a relationship - even Meg "the Virgin" was not looking as if she was going to stay that way forever (especially since her and Duncan would be sharing a bedroom all week) Veronica felt even more pathetic, and more insecure.

"You know the downside of sharing a room with you?" Logan asked as they were sitting on the dock, dangling their feet in the water. The summer heat had finally got to its peak and the rest of their friends were happily swimming and splashing around in the lake. Veronica had inconveniently forgotten to pack her swimsuit and had declined a swim. Logan had decided to join her, just sitting on the deck and keeping her company.

"What's that?" Veronica asked, turning around to face him, pushing her sunglasses off of her face for a moment.

Logan looked down at the wood of the dock, "well, I won't be able to bring any girls back to the room now," he said, looking up at her with a smirk on his face.

Veronica flicked some water at him, "ha! Like a girl would want to go back to your room. You haven't been with anyone since Lilly gave you the flick," she said, emphasizing her words by flicking more water at Logan.

"Well, Lilly cheated on me with Weevil; and if that's not a complete libido killer, I don't know what is," he joked.

"Do you miss her?" Veronica asked quietly. Logan looked at her, "Lilly?" he asked. Veronica nodded.

"We're still friends, Veronica. It's not like we don't talk anymore or anything," he said, showing defence at Veronica's question. He took a breath, "sorry, that was uncalled for. But you mean…I know what you mean, and nah, I don't really miss her at all. When we were dating, I thought that we were perfect for each other, but now I look at her, and she doesn't seem anywhere near as special. I mean, we have nothing in common and her morals are completely out of wack…its kinda crazy that we even dated to begin with when I think about it," he replied, using his hands as he did when he talked.

"Why do you ask?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"No reason," Veronica said quickly, tucking a long piece of hair that was particularly bothering her in the heat, behind her ear. "I mean I was just curious to know whether seeing her with other guys bothered you."

"Does seeing Duncan with Meg bother _you_?" Logan shot back.

"Ha! Like my opinion even matters anyway. But not so much; I thought it would bother me more, but if Duncan was to hook up with anyone, I'm glad it was Meg," she said truthfully.

"It's hot out here," Logan said after nodding his head in response to what Veronica was discussing. Logan began to take off his sweaty t-shirt and Veronica found herself unconsciously oogling her friend. She inwardly scolded herself when she realized what she was doing; but damn! She'd never taken the time to appreciate just how good-looking Logan was without a shirt.

"Veronica!" Logan said, clicking his fingers in front of her face to gain her attention.

_Oh god, please don't let me be drooling._

Veronica averted her gaze back to Logan's face, "huh?"

Logan laughed, "Where'd you just go? I asked you whether you were hot. It must be close to 100 degrees out here."

"Yeah, something like that," Veronica agreed absently as she felt her cheeks burn just a little.

She didn't see it coming when Logan pushed her into the lake, fully clothed. Veronica emerged from the water, feeling refreshed, yet angry and annoyed, while Logan laughed at her.

"I'll get you back for that!" Veronica vowed, as she climbed back onto the dock. For a moment, she considered pushing a laughing Logan into the lake as payback, but decided that it would be more difficult considering his size, and that if she waited, her revenge would be better.

* * *

"Veronica, are you up for some mud football – except without the mud?" Casey asked with a smile the next day.

"An excuse to kick the guys asses? Do you even have to ask?" she joked, getting up from a lounge chair that was set up under a large tree. Veronica clapped her hands together in preparation.

"I'm playing too!" Lilly said, jumping up from her own lounge chair and joining Veronica on her way over to the other side of the yard, where the boys were marking out the field, leaving the other girls and Sean lounging behind them.

"You just want to play so the guys have an excuse to touch you without getting berated by Luke," Veronica accused as she walked over.

"Veronica Mars! You have a very dirty mind!" Lilly replied. She lowered her voice a tone before continuing, "but congratulations for figuring out my master plan," she half-joked with a giggle.

"So whose team am I on?" Lilly asked loudly to the guys.

"Lil, are you sure you want to get involved?" Luke asked hesitantly. "I mean, it can be a little rough."

"Ha! Rough schmugh! I think I can handle a little football, Luke. And anyway, Veronica is smaller than me, and nobody is telling her to get lost."

"Only because we know what _Veronica_ is capable of…I don't think that my leg is the same since that last time we played two on two at our place," Duncan said, Veronica poised her fist ready to strike his arm painfully until she heard Dick Casablancas quietly comment, "two-on-two…kinky," and her blow acquired a new target, earning a yelp from the perpetrator.

"Okay," Cole said, clapping his hands together and taking charge of the game. "Casey, Dick, Duncan, Troy and Veronica on one team and Lilly, Enbom, Kaz, Logan, Luke and me on the other…wait, the teams are uneven."

"Well you could ask Sean to play but he's even worse than Lilly, so that would be more like losing a player rather than gaining one," Troy said, eliciting a "hey!" from Lilly. "I said worse," Troy defended. Lilly scowled at him.

"I'll play if you guys are stumped for players," Meg offered, as she walked out from the house and overheard their conversation.

"Great, you're on my team," Veronica said brightly, as she dragged Meg over to where her teammates were beginning to huddle. Veronica swore she heard a groan from where Lilly was standing in response to the new addition to the team opposing her own.

"Okay guys," Duncan started, as Veronica and Meg approached the huddle and a gap emerged for them to join in. He had obviously been appointed captain for the game. "Man up, because we want to beat these guys. If we lose…" he looked stressed for some reason.

"What?" Meg asked with raised eyebrows, after seeing the nervous look on her boyfriend's face.

"Then I take a skinny dip in the lake," Duncan muttered, causing a few of their teammates to laugh. "Break!" Duncan said loudly, before the whole team moved over to their positions in the middle of the field.

Veronica immediately saw Lilly making her way over to Meg; Lilly's intentions made clear by the wicked look in her eye, and Veronica hoped that Meg's cheerleader training had included sprints.

"Logan?" Veronica asked uncertainly as one of the tallest players of the opposite team made their way towards her.

"Mars," Logan replied professionally, as he stooped down in position for the game.

"Wow. I have to say; I am a little impressed. Little old me required a defender like yourself? I'm about to burst with self-pride," she joked.

"Ha ha," Logan chuckled, "see, that's the foil. You may have fooled us before with your seemingly unobvious small size and physique, but not this time. I'm not going to let you get away and score four touchdowns like last time," he smiled.

"We were on the same team!" Veronica said.

"Yeah, but this time is different; I know all of your dirty tricks," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Hey, I hear you and Duncan have a little bet about the outcome of this game. Loser takes a nice little skinny dip in the lake tonight? Well I'm just ensuring that you're the one who ends up embarrassed in the long run. You deserve it after pushing me in the lake yesterday."

"You just want to see me in the nude," Logan smirked. Veronica scoffed her reply. "In. Your. Dreams."

The two were so involved in their little sparring contest that neither Veronica nor Logan had realized that the game had started. Duncan alerted them to the fact by yelling, "Veronica!" as he threw the ball in her direction.

Veronica's reflexes kicked in as she captured the ball at the last minute safely in her hands and continued to run with it. Logan, who was still reeling at the sudden movement on the field, was unaware for a second about what was going on. He only noticed Veronica running away with the ball a second later. Luckily for Logan, his legs were a lot longer than hers, and he caught up within a moment.

Veronica, out of the corner of her eye, saw Logan approaching and passed the ball off to Troy. Logan thought it would be fun to tackle Veronica anyway, so he did, making sure that she didn't get hurt in the process, Logan stooped down and wrapped his arms around Veronica before hurtling them both to the ground.

"Logan! Logan let me go!" she squealed, squirming to get out of his grip and back on her feet. "Come on, Logan, I don't even have the ball," she countered, going limp in his arms. Logan released Veronica slowly, and when she was free, she got up straight away and ran to the ball, scoring a touchdown for their team before Logan had even realized what had happened and gotten off of the ground.

Whilst Veronica's team ran over to congratulate her, Logan's team came over to berate him.

"She's a girl, man, and you couldn't even stop her?" Enbom started.

"If you weren't rolling around in the dirt like a pig…" Kaz said, as he bumped into Logan with his shoulder on his way past. Slowly, the rest of the team walked back to their starting positions. Veronica was also on her way back to the center, taking courtesy to poke her tongue out at him as she made her way over.

"Well you certainly excelled at rolling around with Veronica," Lilly said softly whilst Veronica was still out of earshot. Logan rolled his eyes at her. "Don't even try to deny it," she added, as she went back to her position, which was trying to lay a hard tackle on Meg.

"You're a _really_ good defender, Logan," Veronica said sarcastically as she lined up facing him.

"Shut up," he grumbled, which made Veronica giggle. "That was a freebie. There's going to be no mercy from now on, Mars, so you'd better watch out."

"I'm so scared!" she teased.

"You should be," he added, before the game started and Veronica tried to make a run for it; however, Logan wouldn't have any of that, and ran straight after her.

Duncan's quarterback-esque pass was headed straight for its target; Veronica, who, in turn was headed straight for the touchdown line. As Logan tried to catch her, Dick Casablancas, crashed into him, suddenly hitting him ferociously on the side.

Logan immediately went to ground, and the rest of the spectators and players; save Veronica, saw the sickening knock.

"Touchdown!" Veronica shouted as she put the ball down. "Suck on that--" She was cut off when she saw the scene at hand; Logan was lying limp on the ground whilst Dick lie next to him. Everyone else was watching on in shock and slowly approaching their injured friends.

Veronica immediately ran to the crowd.

"Fuuuuuck man. Did you see that hit? You'd better appreciate the sacrifice I'm making here for the team, Duncan," Dick commented, as he rubbed a small egg that was forming on the side of his head. "Is Logan okay?"

At that moment, Logan groaned loudly, slowly lifting himself off the ground and, like Dick, rubbing the egg that was forming on the side of his head.

"And this is why guys shouldn't play football…why couldn't you just sit on the sidelines and look pretty like you're supposed to?" Veronica quipped.

"I'll get some ice," Meg said, heading towards the house as their friends slowly began to dissipate back to the sun chairs under the tree.

"Let me take a look at that," Veronica offered when Logan groaned loudly again. He bowed his head towards her to give her access.

Veronica winced as soon as her hand found the lump amongst Logan's hair. "Ouch," she commented simply as she rubbed it gently.

"You could say that," he replied quietly.

When Meg returned from the house with two ice bags, Veronica immediately reached out for one, applying it to Logan's head as Meg handed the other bag to Dick.

"What? Don't I get any special treatment like Logan? This is rigged," he commented loudly, slapping the bag onto the side of his face. Veronica rolled her eyes at him as she continued to hold the bag onto Logan's head.

"Let's lie down," Logan said, looking out of the side of his eyes for her response. Veronica nodded before handing the bag back to Logan so that he could walk into the house normally, following behind him as he made his way.

As soon as Logan and Veronica were inside, with the front door closed, Lilly came up with a 'fabulous' idea.

"Okay people, hook-up bets are on!" She said excitedly to the few people who were still gathered in the middle of the field.

"Fifty on Logan and Marsie doing the do right now in the bedroom," Dick said, opening his wallet and taking out a 50 dollar note.

"Please," Lilly said, rolling her eyes, but she took the fifty from him anyway.

"Lilly, what are you doing?" Duncan said, walking up to the group with a lazy arm resting on Meg's shoulder.

"Relax, Donut. I'm just making a little spending money now that Celeste cancelled my Platinum. Gah! She's such a hormonal bitch," Lilly replied.

"Twenty on Casey and Veronica," Shelley piped up. Lilly once again rolled her eyes, but practically snatched the money away from her friend.

"Okay then Lilly, you think you're so smart, let's see you try and grovel your way back into your daddy's wallet when you have to pay all these people back. Dick and Veronica," Troy said, rubbing his hands together before taking out his own wallet and slamming down a one-hundred dollar note.

"No bookie in their right minds would take on that bet," Lilly countered, eyeing the note.

"It could totally happen!" Dick tried to convince everyone.

"Good thing you aren't an actual bookie then, are you?" Meg commented to Lilly, earning an appreciative grin from Duncan and a death glare from his sister.

"Well why don't _you_ give it a whirl then, _Meg_?" Lilly asked loudly, emphasizing the name Meg.

"Okay then," she said, reaching into the pocket of her skirt and taking out a twenty, all while never losing eye contact with Lilly. Duncan was impressed; Meg was taking on _Lilly._ "Caitlin and Troy."

"Duncan and Meg," Sean said, placing a forty tenderly into Lilly's lap.

"It's a hook-up bet!" Lilly said in her 'duh' voice. "Not a hook_ed_-up bet, you doosh," she threw the money back at him.

"Ahh, okay then, um…Casey and Carrie," Luke said, handing Lilly a twenty. Lilly gave her boyfriend a big smile.

"Madison and Dick…again," Cole laughed, earning a punch in the arm from Dick as he passed through with a twenty.

"I guess that's it then?" she asked, putting all of the notes she had acquired into her pocket. "No more bets?"

"I've got one," Duncan said in a booming loud voice. Lilly looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. "One grand… on you and Logan."

In the background, both siblings were aware that everyone else was either in awe about the money, or who he'd placed it on but the Kane's simply continued to stare at each other intensely.

"Oh this is going to be easy, little brother," Lilly said, only loudly enough for Duncan to hear.

"Easy for you to keep your hands off of Logan for a week? I think I know you a little better than everyone else, Lil. I know that most nights he sneaks into your room, and vice versa. And I also know that it is going to _kill_ you to see him going sweet on Veronica," Duncan countered, not backing down from his bet.

Lilly stepped back with a sort of victorious look on her face, "Really think so? Game on, Duncan. Game On."

* * *

**A/N So Duncan knows something that perhaps everyone else doesn't know? Well it certainly makes things a little more interesting. I guess you'll have to wait and see...part three is on its way, all I ask for in exchange is a review. They rock my world. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
